1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a storage medium in which a sheet of paper with an information tag can be used.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, radio tags using RFID (radio frequency identification) or the like are being replaced by barcodes in order to manage and identify products. The radio tag includes an antenna and an IC (integrated circuit) and has functions of performing radio communication with an external device and recording/storing various information.
In a system using the radio tags, tag information including ID information unique to respective managed products is stored in ICs of the radio tags, and the radio tags are attached to the managed products. The tag information is read by a reader from the radio tags in a noncontact manner, and the read tag information is used to manage the products.
The radio tags are characteristic in that data can be transmitted/received in a noncontact manner and that a plurality of pieces of tag information can be read at one time. By using these characteristics, management of products, that has been traditionally performed by using barcodes, can be performed more efficiently.
As an application of the radio tags, a sheet of paper with an RFID tag formed by embedding a radio tag in a paper medium has been proposed (see Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-337426). This sheet with a tag has been proposed as printing paper provided with an RFID tag in which data can be read/written, and the data is transmitted/received through radio waves. Image data is printed on the printing paper, and the image data is stored in the RFID tag in a form of electronic data. By providing a reader/writer for documents and a reader/writer for printing paper in a copying machine having printer and facsimile functions, the electronic data can be transmitted/received as necessary.
Also, by storing control information for an image forming apparatus in the RFID tag in addition to image data and by reading print setting and so on when scanning a sheet with the RFID tag, a setting operation on the apparatus can be simplified.
For example, as setting information for the image forming apparatus, an operation mode, such as magnification and density setting, and information about restriction of function, such as prohibition of copying, can be attached to a document composed of a sheet/sheets with an RFID tag. Accordingly, the image forming apparatus can be automatically set for each sheet of document based on the information.
However, the following problems can occur by only providing an RFID reader/writer in a conventional copying machine, that is, by only providing a unit of reading information from a sheet with an RFID tag.
For example, if a document embedded with a tag and an ordinary document are mixed, it is difficult to visually distinguish the two types of documents from each other. Therefore, assuming that a copying machine is automatically set based on setting information read from an RFID tag, a copying operation may be performed even though the user cannot recognize that the setting has been changed. In this case, a result against a user's demand may be output disadvantageously.
For example, assume a case where a plurality of sheets of a document is to be copied, in which a first sheet is provided with an RFID tag and scaling of A4/A3 is automatically set. In this case, even when a second sheet is an ordinary sheet that should be copied at a 1× magnification in accordance with instructions from a user through an operation unit, the scaling setting made on the first sheet is forcefully enabled, and as a result, a copying operation desired by the user cannot be performed. Typically, the user tends to recognize that setting in an operation unit becomes effective upon pressing a copy start key when a document to be copied is an ordinary document. Therefore, various contradictions may arise between the setting made by the user and the setting based on RFID information.